Community-led approaches and interventions for the regeneration of abandoned towns in southern Italy
Journal Title: Ecocycles - Year 2016, Vol 2, Issue 2
Abstract
Defined as towns or villages that have been abandoned by their original inhabitants, the so-called ‘ghost towns’ are a sub-product of the opposing conditions of excessive urban growth in one hand and decline of rural regions on the other. Natural disasters, economic and demographic decline, armed conflict, disease and environmental contamination are repeatedly the drivers for their abandonment. An increasing large concentration of these abandoned small villages is found in the impoverished Southern regions of Italy. To investigate this problem and identify conservation approaches that could generate new dynamics to the abandoned historic villages, the paper starts by identifying the linkages between globalisation, rapid urbanisation and ghost towns. This is followed by an analysis of the root causes of ghost towns in an attempt to define a ghost town typology. With this in mind, this paper investigates integrated conservation approaches, which could promote the restoration of abandoned towns, strengthening their local identity and enhancing resource-efficient local economies. Based on these considerations, the paper focus the attention on three scenarios of rehabilitation: a community-led approach to conservation demonstrated by the medieval village Torri Superiore embedded in ecovillage principles; the hospitality concept albergo diffuso demonstrated by Albergo Diffuso Borgo di Castelvetere, acting as social, cultural and economic stimuli to depopulated villages; the Riace village humanitarian approach which has integrated migrants in the social fabric of its aging population. The paper ends by reflecting if Torri Superiore and Riace’s approaches offer a potential solution to the housing crises currently engulfing southern Europe. As a result of imaginative housing and food production practices, these villages have made significantly more progress than mainstream government approaches towards the realisation of sustainable communities by strengthening social cohesion, addressing climate change vulnerabilities, breaking the cycle of food insecurity, and improving housing status.
Authors and Affiliations
May East
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP175132
- DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.19040/ecocycles.v2i1.40
- Views 130
- Downloads 0
Disease resistance in plants: The road to phytoalexins and beyond
This paper summarizes the views of the authors on the roles specific metabolites play in the resistance of plants against bacterial and fungal diseases. Pesticidal specific plant metabolites may be synthesized in plant t...
Big Data and its impact on agriculture
This Viewpoint article will discuss the roles the Big Data phenomenon may play in key issues related to agriculture, food production, and environment. The author contributed to Oracle’s strategic White Paper document on...
Preface to the first issue of Ecocycles
On behalf of the Committee of the European Ecocycles Society (ECyS) we are pleased to announce the publication of the inaugural issue of Ecocycles, our Society’s scientific journal. Ecocycles has been many months in the...
Tourists of the future: importance of pro-environmental attitude among secondary school children
In the last few years the importance of responsible thinking, ethic and the sensitivity to the environment have become a significant part of the postmodern tourism. The people in the service sector, the agents, the minis...
Community-based solutions to locally-sourced food production systems featuring the revival of indigenous knowledge
Gaia Education (GE) - an international NGO with headquarters in Scotland - has been pioneering community-based educational approaches to sustainable design and development. Founded concurrently with the launching of the...